Support and feeding assembly for pens of fountain pens



Jan. 2 1, 1969 G. F. RIQQNDAUD SUPPORT AND FEEDING ASSEMBLY FOR PENS OF FOUNTAIN PENS HSh Be t of 3 Filed Jan. 19, 1967 Nm. v

hm I l I a I 1 In I m N m Jan. 21, 1969 e. F. RIGONDAUD 3,423,157

SUPPORT AND FEEDING ASSEMBLY FOR PENS OF FOUNTAIN PENS Z of 5 Sheet Filed Jan. 19, 1967 Jan. 21,1969 (5. F. RIGONDAUD 3,423,157

SUPPORT AND FEEDING ASSEMBLY FOR PENS OF FOUNTAIN-'PENS Sheet 8&5 w

United States Patent US. Cl. 401-242 8 Claims Int. Cl. 343k /18 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A support and ink feed device for the nib of a fountain pen comprising a feed bar having a convex upper surface at the end of a stern having 'a capillary channel communicating with the ink supply of the pen, a recess being formed in the upper convex surface with shoulders at the margins thereof for supporting the lateral edges of a nib such that a main central portion of the recess is open beneath the nib. The recess communicates with the capillary channel via a duct and is of a lesser depth than that of the duct and channel.

The present invention relates to a feed bar and feeding device for nibs of writing instruments, and more particularly for nibs of fountain pens.

It is known that a curved nib of a fountain pen is generally fed with ink by means of capillary gaps or intervals formed on the convex face of said feed bar with which the nibs is in contact by its concave portion. These capillary intervals are mostly fine longitudinal grooves which constitute the extensions of a capillary duct, the other end portion of which leads to the ink-reservoir.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved feed bar which ensures a better ink-feeding of the nibs than the known feed bars and which may be manufactured more economically than these latter ones.

According to the invention, the feed bar has present on its face in contact with the nib, a hollow space of a small depth, wherein opens the capillary duct, connected at its other end with the ink reservoir. The capillary feeding space of the nib is thus limited by said hollow space and the concave face of the nib, so that the latter is in contact with the ink over a surface which is substantially larger than when placed on a known feed bar, provided with fine grooves.

The great area of the hollow space, defining the capillary interval, enables the use, for the feed bar, of a material of a lower degree of wettability, than that necessary up to the present for the known feed bars of a fountain pen, and thus permits the use of material of lower cost.

The provision of a hollow space is, on the other hand, easier to achieve, than that of fine grooves, thus further increasing the possibilities of selection of the material for the feed bar.

The invention will be best understood from the following description and appended drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan View of a feed bar supporting assembly, according to the invention, mounted on a body shown in cross section;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, with the nib set in position;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of the barrel of the fountain pen taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

3,423,157 Patented Jan. 21, 1969 ice FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of the feed bar taken substantially along line 4-4;

FIGURE 7 is a top view, partly broken away, for a different embodiment of the device;

FIGURE 8 is a cross-sectional view along line 8-8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is a top view of the feed bar as illustrated in FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view along line 10-10 of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a view, in side elevation, of the feed bar of FIGURES 9 and 10;

FIGURE 12 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a barrel adapted to cooperate with the feed bar of FIG- URES 9 to 11;

FIGURE 13 is a cross-sectional view along line 13-13 of FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 14 is a front view of the section as illustrated in FIGURE 12;

FIGURE 15 is a cross-sectional view along line 15-15 of FIGURE 11.

The improved feed bar 10, according to the invention, has a general shape similar to that of the usual devices used, i.e., it presents a substantially semi-cylindrical body .11 ending at its front end with a tapered portion 12. According to the invention, the upper convex face 13 of the feed bar is formed with a hollow space 14 which, in plan view, presents a substantially pearshaped contour with longitudinal sides 15 and 16, the distance of which increases from the front ends 17 and 18 up to the rear end portions 19 and 20, where they join with a curved base 21. The front edge 22 of said hollow space is substantially rectilinear. The hollow space 14 has a small, substantially constant depth, so that it is parallel to the inner concave face 23 (FIGURE 4) of nib 24 with which the feed bar 10 is cooperating.

The hollow space .14 has a sufficient length for it to be present, on one hand, under a portion of slit 25 defining the nib tips and, on the other hand, beneath a substantial part of body 26 of the pen, as best shown in FIGURE 2. Nib 24 rests by the longitudinal edges 27 and 28 of its inner face 23, on bearing surfaces 29 and 30, bounding sides 15 and 16 of the hollow space, the positioning of the nib being ensured by shoulder members 31 and 32.

Body 33 of the barrel is formed with a bore 34 (FIG- URE 5) of substantially semi-cylindrical shape, and on the plane bottom 35 of said bore rests the lower face 36, also plane, of the feed bar, the upper, substantially semicylindrical face 37 of said bore surmounting the upper face 38 of the nib over the total width thereof, the extremity portions 39 and 40 of face 37 cooperating with the margins 41 and 42 of the feed bar.

Feed bar 10 extends, towards the rear, with a stem or rod 43, also called sometimes a tongue (FIGURE 3), having a tranverse substantially semi-circular cross section, wherein is formed a longitudinal groove 44, having a rectangular cross section, with parallel plane faces 45, 46 and bottom 47. Stem or rod 43 and body 11 of the feed bar join with a portion 48 of a progressively increasing height from said rod, which has a groove 49 with a curved bottom 50, and extending groove 44 with a rectilinear bottom. The groove 50 opens in the upper face 13 of the support, along a further groove 51 (FIGURES 1 and 2), having a rectilinear bottom substantially of the same height as groove 44, the depth of the hollow space 14 being substantially smaller than the height of said groove 51.

Body 33 of the barrel comprises a channel or duct 52 opening, towards the front part, in the bevelled front face 53 and, towards the rear portion, in a compartment 54 forming an enlargement of bore 55 wherein is located 3 the body of stem 43 of the feed bar, thus defining an annular interval 56 around said stem.

When setting the end portion 57 of the nib on the writing surface, the ink feeding to the nib is achieved from the reservoir by means of a circuit comprising groove 44 extending to the curved portion 49 and groove 51, then to the hollow space 14 which extends under a substantial portion of the nib, thus providing therefor an abundant and uniform ink feeding. Air may have access to the reservoir through duct 52, annular interval 56 and bore 55.

The large surface of the hollow space enables the use, for forming the feed bar, of a material having a wettability coefficient which is lower than that of the materials generally used to this end. The very shape of the capillary interval underlying the nib enables an easy manufacture of the feed bar by moulding.

Referring now to FIGURES 7 to 15, relative to another embodiment, the bottom 60 of the hollow portion 61 of the feed bar is offset with respect to shoulders 62 and 63 on which margins 64 and 65 of the nib are resting, so that the capillary gap 66 formed between bottom 60 of the hollow space and the internal face 67 of the nib 68, has a depth which decreases from the peripheral parts 70, 71 of the hollow portion up to the central portion 72, at the level of which there is formed the slit 69 of the nib. This arrangement further improves the feeding of the nib tip.

In this embodiment, the contour of the hollow space is substantially rectangular and is formed with longitudinal sides 73 and 74 (FIGURE 9) and a transverse rear side 75. Towards the front part, the feed bar is formed with a tapered portion 76 ending in a frontal edge 77 where also end curved portions 78 (FIGURE 11). The small capillary channel 79 of the stem or tongue 80 extends to the groove 81 with curved bottom 82 in the rear portion 83 of the feed bar, the upper plane face 84 of which is limited in front by the edge 75 forming an abutment for the rear end portion of the nib, the groove 81 also ending in the rear part of the curved bottom 60 of the hollow space 61.

Barrel 85 is formed with a bore 86 (FIGURES 13 and 14) the upper face 87 of which is circular and the bottom 88 is plane. Into this bottom opens a duct 89 for the air admission, ending at the front end part in the bevelled portion 90 of the section and at the rear end into a chamber 91, of a larger diameter. Into chamber 91, also open capillary grooves 92, of a substantially trapezoidal shape, similar to duct 89, but of a smaller width than the latter; the apexes 93 of the grooves are arranged along a cylinder which substantially extends surface 87. Grooves 92 do not open at the front end, but are limited therein by a wall 94. The grooves 92 serve for retaining the ink which may be urged out of the ink reservoir, by reason of the increase of the pressure of the air contained in said reservoir.

The stem or tongue 80 is located in a tube 95, the bev elled rear end portion 96 of which forms a percussion or drill member of a cartridge C constituting the ink reservoir located in the fountain pen body; at its front end portion tube is integral with a body 97, having the shape of a cup the external cylindrical surface 98 of which is pressed by friction into chamber 91 of the barrel. A central annular boss 99 of body 97, extending tube 95, is formed with a chamber 100 facilitating the insertion of the stem or tongue 80 of the feed bar.

What is claimed is:

1. A support and ink feed device for the nib of a fountain pen, said device comprising a feed bar including a stem having a capillary groove communicating with the ink supply of the pen, and a front portion on said stern for supporting a nib and for feeding ink thereto, said front portion having a convex upper surface for receiving the nib and a recess at said surface with a main central portion of a given depth and reduced marginal portions for supporting lateral edges of the nib such that the main central portion is open beneath the nib, said feed bar having a capillary duct providing communication between said groove and said recess, the main portion of the recess having a lesser depth than that of said duct and groove.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the depth of said recess decreases from the peripheral zones thereof to its central Zone.

3. A device according to claim 2 comprising a pen barrel supporting said feed bar, said barrel having a concave surface facing said convex surface, said convex surface having a circular transverse cross-section which is eccentric with respect to the concave surface of the barrel.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein said front portion of the feed bar has a shoulder at said marginal portion for securing the nib against transverse displacement. 1

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the recess has a pear-shaped outline.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein the recess has a rectangular outline.

7. A device according to claim 1 comprising a pen barrel supporting said feed bar and having an air inlet duct and longitudinal capillary retaining grooves.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein said capillary retaining grooves are arranged on both sides of the air inlet duct and said barrel includes a wall closing the capillary grooves at the front thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 264,451 9/1882 Gard 40l238 723,112 3/1903 Wirt 401-238 757,500 4/1904 Rothwell 40l241 879,436 2/ 1908 Bennum 401-229 2,774,333 12/1956 Kahn 40l-230 X LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

